History of the ArchivesLoudoun County is one of only a few counties in the Commonwealth that has records dating from the beginning of the county, which was formed in 1757 from Fairfax County.

The records were originally kept in a vault at Rokeby, the home of the first Clerk of Court Charles Binns, located near Leesburg. In 1800, an office for the Clerk was ordered to be built on the Courthouse lot in order to have the records closer to the court. The records were brought to Leesburg and Mr. Binns resigned after being Clerk for 43 years. During the Civil War, George K. Fox who was the Clerk of Court, was ordered to take the records somewhere for safe keeping and the legend is he took them to Campbell County, Virginia, and hid them. After the war all the records were returned safely to Leesburg and have been housed in various locations adjacent to the Courthouse ever since.

Location
Historic Records is located in the basement of the Clerk of Court office. The division can be accessed by the stairs or by the elevator (press B2) both located in the 3rd floor Clerks’ office. The division’s entrance is located to your right when you exit the elevator and to your right from the stair well. Archives will no longer be accessible from the King St. entrance. All customers must come through court security.

Policy
Before visiting please read the following policy on the use of electronic devices (phones, lap tops, notebooks, cameras scanners).

No food or drink is allowed in the Historic Records.

Because of the court security policy, the following are prohibited: laptops, cameras, phones, notebooks/tablets, flatbed scanners and movie cameras. You must obtain prior approval from the Clerk of Circuit Office to use any of these items and if approved, you will be escorted to the Historic Records.